ICR049: When a fund manager leaves

This week in episode 49 of the Informed Choice Podcast, Martin talks about what investors should do when a fund manager leaves.

There’s also a roundup of the latest personal finance and investing news.

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Episode sponsor

This episode of the Informed Choice Podcast is supported by Learn How to Budget, a four week course from Pete Matthew of the Meaningful Money Podcast.

Learn How to Budget gives you everything you need to know and everything you need to do to master the skill of budgeting.

Personal finance news

In the personal finance and investing new roundup this week:

-HM Revenue and Customs are hiring more staff to work in the evening, as well as investing more in their online services, with the aim of improving their performance.

-The unemployment rate in Britain has fallen to its lowest level since 2008, but new figures show earnings have grown more slowly than expected.

-Three quarters of people don’t know the difference between professional regulated financial advice and financial guidance, according to a new survey by Aegon.

-New research from Halifax shows the value of UK’s private housing stock in August 2015 is estimated at £5.1 trillion.

-A quarter of grandparents who have helped out grandchildren financially took the money from their pension, according to new research from LV=.

-UK stockmarkets fell by nearly 2 per cent on Thursday as shares in Rolls Royce fell by 20 per cent on a profit warning.

Main topic

What should you do when a fund manager leaves?

Earlier this week, investors in the Stewart Investors Asia Pacific Leaders Fund, previously known as the First State Asia Pacific Leaders fund, discovered the fund would be subject to a management overhaul.

Veteran fund manager Angus Tulloch will remain at Stewart Investors but is handing control of two of his funds over to other managers. The £7.5bn Asia Pacific Leaders fund, in which we have several million of our client’s assets, will be managed from next summer by David Gait and Sashi Reddy.

Martin talks through a series of questions from Fidelity Worldwide Investing that investor should be asking when a fund manager leaves:

When is the manager leaving? And what will the handover process look like?

Why is the manager leaving?

Who is the new manager? Is their style consistent with the departing manager or will there be changes?

Why did you buy the fund in the first place? Under new management, will it still do what it says on the tin?